0921-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 21 Sep 14, Sunday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Michael Ashley
THEME: NASCAR Rocks! … today’s themed answers sound like the titles of rock songs, and are all NASCAR/automotive themed:

27A. “Hey, what did you think when you missed that last pit stop?” [The Who, 1971] WONT GET FUELED AGAIN (from “Won’t Get Fooled Again”)
42A. “Did you do anything for luck before today’s race?” [Katy Perry, 2008] I KISSED A GRILLE (from “I Kissed a Girl”)
65A. “How did that new car handle out there on the track?” [Maroon 5, 2011] MOVES LIKE JAGUAR (from “Moves Like Jagger”)
93A. “What did you try to do after the caution flag came out?” [The Doors, 1967] BRAKE ON THROUGH (from “Break on Through”)
109A. “Are you enjoying your time out on the Nascar circuit?” [Ricky Martin, 1999] LIVIN’ LA VEHICLE LOCA (from “Livin’ La Vida Loca”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 25m 26s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Coping mechanisms? SAWS
A coping saw is one that is used to cut small curves in wood. It has a thin blade that is held in a U-shaped frame. In woodworking, a coped joint is one in which one element is shaped to fit neatly into the other member. On the other hand, a mitered joint is one in which the two elements are bevelled at 45 degrees to fit together.

5. Dog for a “gentleman detective” ASTA
Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb “The Thin Man” series of films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.

“The Thin Man” is a detective novel written by Dashiell Hammett that was first published in the magazine “Redbook” in 1934. Hammett never wrote a sequel to his story, but it spawned a wonderful, wonderful series of “The Thin Man” films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. “The Thin Man” was the last novel that Hammett wrote.

14. “Germinal” novelist ZOLA
“Germinal” is an 1885 novel by French writer Émile Zola that tells the story of a devastating coalminers’ strike in northern France.

The most famous work of French writer Émile Zola is his 1898 open letter “J’Accuse!” written to then French president Félix Faure. The letter was published on the front page of a leading Paris newspaper, and accused the government of anti-Semitism in its handling of the trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus was a Jewish military officer in the French army, falsely accused and convicted of spying for Germany. Even after the error was discovered, the government refused to back down and let Dreyfus rot away on Devil’s Island rather than admit to the mistake. It wasn’t until 1906, 12 years after the wrongful conviction, that Dreyfus was freed and reinstated, largely due to the advocacy of Emile Zola.

19. Drama critic John of The New Yorker LAHR
John Lahr is a drama critic with “The New Yorker” magazine. John is the son of actor Bert Lahr, who famously played the Cowardly Lion in 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz”.

23. Rescue film of 2012 ARGO
“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I saw “Argo” recently and recommend it highly, although I found the scenes of religious fervor pretty frightening …

24. It’s normal for NASA ONE-G
The force of gravity that we all feel is referred to as “one G”. As gravity is a actually an accelerating force, acceleration is measured relative to that force of gravity. So, if we are sitting in a vehicle that accelerates at 3G, then we are experiencing a force that is three times that which we feel from the gravitational pull of the earth. Zero-G is weightlessness that is experienced when in space, outside the influence of the earth’s gravity.

25. Comedy classic of 1978 ANIMAL HOUSE
The very funny 1978 movie “Animal House” has the prefix “National Lampoon’s …” because the storyline came out of tales that had already appeared in “National Lampoon” magazine. “Animal House” was to become the first in a long line of successful “National Lampoon” films. The main pledges in the movie are Tom Hulce (Pinto), who later played a magnificent “Amadeus”, and Stephen Furst (Flounder), later played a regular role on television’s “Babylon 5”.

27. “Hey, what did you think when you missed that last pit stop?” [The Who, 1971] WON’T GET FUELED AGAIN (from “Won’t Get Fooled Again”)
The Who’s hit “Who Are You” is used as the theme song for the TV show “CSI”. Old hits from the Who are also used as theme songs for the CSI spin-off shows, “CSI: New York” (theme: “Baba O’Riley”) and “CSI: Miami” (theme: “Won’t Get Fooled Again”). The Who played all three “CSI” songs during the halftime show at the 2010 Super Bowl.

30. ___ rating system (world chess standard) ELO
The Elo rating system is used to compare the skill levels of competing chess players. The system is named for a Hungarian-born professor of physics called Arpad Elo, who was also a master-level chess player active in the US Chess Federation.

31. Ken of “thirtysomething” OLIN
Ken Olin was one of the stars on the hit television series “Thirtysomething”, playing Michael Steadman. After “Thirtysomething”, Olin moved behind the camera and is now a producer and director.

38. Hydroxyl compound ENOL
An enol is an alkene with a hydroxyl group, sort of part-alkene and part-alcohol. The term “enol” therefore, is a portmanteau of “alkene” and “alcohol”.

40. Fanny REAR END
You have to be careful using the slang term “fanny” if traveling in the British Isles, because over there it has a much ruder meaning …

42. “Did you do anything for luck before today’s race?” [Katy Perry, 2008] I KISSED A GRILLE (from “I Kissed a Girl”)
Katy Perry is an American singer who grew up listening to and singing gospel music, as she was the daughter of two Christian pastors. In fact, her first musical release was a gospel album in 2001. She has branched out since then. Her first successful single was “Ur so Gay”, followed by “I Kissed A Girl”. She was married (only for a year) to the British comedian Russell Brand, until 2012.

50. Seth of “Late Night” MEYERS
Seth Meyers is an actor and comedian who is perhaps best-known for his appearances on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), for which program he served as head writer. Meyers now hosts his own late night talk show on NBC.

52. Rock’s Everly or Collins PHIL
The Everly Brothers are noted for their steel guitar sound, and their great use of harmony. Their harmony onstage wasn’t reflected off the stage though. In 1973 the brothers decided to pursue separate careers and scheduled a farewell performance attended by many fans, family and stalwarts from the music industry. Don Everly came on stage too drunk to perform, and eventually brother Phil just stormed off into the wings, smashing his guitar as he left. The boys didn’t talk to each other for ten years after that incident. Phil Everly passed away in January 2014.

The English musician Phil Collins is best known for his work as drummer with the rock group Genesis, as well as for his solo career. In fact, Collins is often grouped with Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, two other artists who had tremendous solo success after careers with very well-known bands.

62. 4 letters GHI
The letters GHI are often seen on the 4-key on a telephone keypad.

63. Gen ___ XER
The term Generation X originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By the latest accepted definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

64. Exams for some coll. applicants AP TESTS
The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college level courses to kids that are still in high school. After being tested at the end of the courses, successful students receive credits that count towards a college degree. My bank manager is all for anything that gets college students through in 4 years!

65. “How did that new car handle out there on the track?” [Maroon 5, 2011] MOVES LIKE JAGUAR (from “Moves Like Jagger”)
“Moves Like Jagger” is a song released in 2011 by Maroon 5, with Christina Aguilera adding vocals. The song is about a man with dance moves like Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.

73. Steinful, maybe ALE
A stein is a type of beer glass. The term is German in origin, and is short for “Steinkrug” meaning “stone jug”. “Stein” is the German for “stone”.

74. Article in Aachen EIN
“Ein” is an indefinite article in German.

Aachen is a city in the very west of Germany, right on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands. In English, we quite often refer to this city by its French name, Aix-la-Chapelle.

75. Orly bird, once? SST
The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Famously, the Concorde routinely broke the sound barrier, and cruised at about twice the speed of sound. Above Mach 2, frictional heat would cause the plane’s aluminum airframe to soften, so airspeed was limited.

Orly is on the outskirts of Paris, to the south of the city. It is home to the Paris-Orly Airport, the second busiest international airport for the city after the more recently built Charles de Gaulle Airport. That said, Orly is home to more domestic flights than Charles de Gaulle.

80. Giant in heating and air-conditioning TRANE
The heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) company called Trane was formed in 1913 by father and son James and Reuben Trane. James was a Norwegian immigrant, and Reuben earned his mechanical engineering degree at the University of Wisconsin.

83. Hack CAB
Hackney is a location in London, and it probably gave it’s name to a “hackney”, an ordinary type of horse around 1300. By 1700 a “hackney” was a person hired to do routine work, and “hackneyed” meant “kept for hire”. This morphed into a hackney carriage, a carriage or car for hire, and into “hack”, a slang term for a taxi driver or cab.

85. City SSW of Moscow OREL
Orel (also Oryol) is a city lying on the Oka River, just over 200 miles SSW of Moscow. Orel was one of the cities occupied by Germany during WWII. It was liberated in 1943, but had been almost completely destroyed.

86. Toy company on track to success? LIONEL
Lionel is the name most associated with toy trains in the US. The first Lionel trains rolled off the production line in 1901 and they are still produced today, although the original Lionel Corporation is long gone. In 1995, the brand was bought by an investment company that included train enthusiast Neil Young (the singer), and operated as Lionel, LLC. Neil Young’s financial involvement ended after a 2008 reorganization of the company following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, but the company is still producing and selling.

91. Late disc jockey Casey KASEM
Not only was Casey Kasem closely associated with the radio show “American Top 40”, but he is also well known for playing the voice of Shaggy Rogers on the “Scooby-Doo” animated series. Sadly, Kasem passed away in 2014 having suffered from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

93. “What did you try to do after the caution flag came out?” [The Doors, 1967] BRAKE ON THROUGH (from “Break on Through”)
“Break on Through (to the Other Side)” is a 1967 song recorded by the Doors. It was actually the first song that the band released, and was relatively unsuccessful compared to later recordings. That said, the popularity of “Break on Through” increased with the popularity of the band itself.

99. Dame ___ EDNA
Dame Edna Everage is the outrageous character created and played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. I saw him/her perform live in a San Francisco theater, and what a great show it was …

101. Ming of the N.B.A. YAO
Yao Ming is a retired professional basketball player from Shanghai who played for the Houston Rockets. At 7’6″, Yao was the tallest man playing in the NBA, and as of 2014, he is the 31st tallest man alive.

109. “Are you enjoying your time out on the Nascar circuit?” [Ricky Martin, 1999] LIVIN’ LA VEHICLE LOCA (from “Livin’ La Vida Loca”)
“Livin’ La Vida Loca” is a 1999 single recorded by Ricky Martin, the title of which translates as “living the crazy life”.

114. Movie with the line “Old age. It’s the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don’t look forward to being cured of” CITIZEN KANE
“Citizen Kane” was the first film made by Orson Welles, one considered by many to be the finest film ever made. It’s a remarkable achievement by Wells, as he played the lead, and also produced and directed. Despite all the accolades for “Citizen Kane” over the decades, the movie was far from a commercial success in its early run and actually lost money at the box office.

117. Lend a dirty hand to ABET
The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (it literally means “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

119. George Will piece OP-ED
Op-ed is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

George Will is a journalist and author who is noted for his conservative political commentary. Outside the world of politics, Will is a big baseball fan and wrote the bestseller “Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball”.

121. The Swedish Nightingale LIND
Jenny Lind was a Swedish opera singer who was as popular off the stage as she was on. She had many suitors, including the great composers Mendelssohn and Chopin, as well as the author Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen wrote three fairy tales that were inspired by Lind, including one called “The Nightingale”, which ultimately led to Lind becoming known as “The Swedish Nightingale”.

122. Sporty option T-TOP
A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.

123. Love letter sign-off XOXO
In the sequence XOX, I think the X represents a kiss and the O a hug. Hugs and kisses …

125. Antoine Domino Jr., familiarly FATS
Antoine “Fats” Domino was born and raised in New Orleans, with Creole as his first language. He made into the big time in 1949 when he recorded an early rock and roll record called “The Fat Man”. That record sold over a million copies, the first rock and roll record to achieve that milestone.

Down
1. Only Literature Nobelist also to win an Oscar SHAW
George Bernard Shaw was a very successful Irish playwright. Shaw is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature, and an Oscar. He won his Oscar for adapting his own play “Pygmalion” for the 1938 film of the same name starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller. Most people are more likely to have seen the musical adaptation of “Pygmalion” that went by the title “My Fair Lady”.

3. “Ring” lovers WAGNERIANS
Richard Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” is more properly called “Der Ring des Nibelungen”, and is composed of four very, very long operas. The individual operas are:

– “Das Rheingold”
– “Die Walkure”
– “Siegfried”
– “Gotterdammerung”

5. Succulent plant ALOE
Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.

6. ___ Domingo SANTO
Santo Domingo de Guzmán (often just “Santo Domingo”) is the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Christopher Columbus was the first European to visit what is now the Dominican Republic, in 1492. Four years later Christopher’s younger brother, Bartholomew Columbus arrived, and founded Santo Domingo, making the city the oldest, continuously-inhabited European settlement in the Americas.

7. Posthumous John Donne poem that includes “It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee” THE FLEA
“The Flea” is metaphysical poem by John Donne that was first published in 1633, a couple of years after his death. It is an erotic piece, in which the speaker tries to convince a lady to sleep with him.

9. ___-Caspian Depression ARAL
The Aral-Caspian Depression is an area of lowlands lying along the border between Europe and Asia.

10. Bay Area gridder NINER
The very successful National Football League team in San Francisco takes its name from the gold prospectors who flooded into Northern California around 1849 during the California Gold Rush. These 1849-prospectors became known as the “49ers”.

12. Green beans LIMAS
Lima beans are also known as butter beans. The beans originated in Central America, but were exported in large numbers from the city of Lima in Peru, hence the name.

13. Asian wild ass ONAGER
The onager is also known as the Asiatic wild ass. The onager is a little larger than a donkey, and looks like a cross between a donkey and a horse. One characteristic of the onager is that is remarkably “untamable”.

14. Jerusalem ZION
The name “Zion” first turns up in the Book of Solomon in the Bible. Zion is commonly used to refer to Jerusalem, and sometimes the Biblical land of Israel.

15. Big Ten sch. OSU
The athletic teams of Ohio State University are called the Buckeyes, named after the state tree of Ohio. In turn the buckeye tree gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a light patch thought to resemble a “buck’s eye”.

28. Yenta GOSSIP
Yenta (also “Yente”) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater “yenta” came to mean a busybody.

35. Rustic poems IDYLLS
An “idyll” (also “idyl”) is a short poem with a pastoral theme, usually depicting the scene in romantic and idealized terms. The word comes from the Greek “eidyllion”, which literally translates to “little picture” but was a word describing a short, poem with a rustic theme.

36. Noon, in Nantes MIDI
Nantes is a beautiful city located on the delta of the Loire, Erdre and Sevre rivers. It has the well deserved nickname of “The Venice of the West”. I had the privilege of visiting Nantes a couple of times on business, and I can attest that it really is a charming city.

41. “___ Delight,” pioneering song by the Sugarhill Gang RAPPER’S
The Sugarhill Gang are a Rap music group from Englewood, New Jersey. The group’s biggest hit by far was “Rapper’s Delight”, released in 1979.

43. Writer LeShan EDA
Eda LeShan wrote “When Your Child Drives You Crazy”, and was host of the PBS television show “How Do Your Children Grow?”

44. Almost any poem that starts “Roses are red …” DOGGEREL
“Doggerel” is a term used to insult poetry that has little value as literature. The term probably comes from “dog”, perhaps in that it is “only fit for dogs”.

45. Élève’s destination LYCEE
The “lycée” is the last stage of secondary education in France.

French for school is “école”, and French for pupil is “élève”.

46. High-speed ride LEARJET
Learjet is a company making business jets that was founded in 1960 by William Powell Lear. The original Learjet was a modified Swiss ground-attack fighter aircraft.

58. Kwik-E-Mart guy APU
The fictional Kwik-E-Mart store is operated by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on “The Simpsons” TV show. The convenience store owner doesn’t seem to be making much use of his Ph.D in computer science that he earned in the US. Apu’s undergraduate degree is from Caltech (the Calcutta Technical Institute), where he graduated top of his class of seven million students …

59. Stop: Abbr. STA
Station (sta.)

61. Spammer, e.g. EMAILER
Apparently the term “SPAM”, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word SPAM, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets of Britain after WWII. So “SPAM” is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

63. Classic sports car XKE
XKand XKE are models of Jaguar motor car.

Jaguar started out as a manufacturer of sidecars for motorcycles back in 1922, when the company was known as the Swallow Sidecar Company (SS for short). The company changed its name to Jaguar after WWII, because of the unfortunate connotations of the letters “SS” at that time.

66. Words of retreat? OMS
One might hear the mantra “om” on a meditative retreat.

“Om” is a sacred mystic word from the Hindu tradition. “Om” is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

67. Nov. honoree VET
Veterans Day used to be known as Armistice Day, and is observed on November 11th each year. This particular date was chosen as the Armistice that ended WWI was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

68. Actress Massey ILONA
Ilona Massey was a Hollywood actress, a native of Budapest in Hungary. Given her cultural background and the period at which she hit the big screen, Massey was marketed by the studios as “the new Dietrich”.

70. Poster bear SMOKEY
Smokey Bear is the mascot of the US Forest Service. Smokey first appeared in 1944, in an advertising campaign directed towards preventing forest fires.

71. European capital TIRANA
Tirana is the capital city of Albania.

72. “Romanian Rhapsodies” composer ENESCO
George Enescu (aka Georges Enesco) was a Romanian composer and performer. Enescu’s most popular works are two “Romanian Rhapsodies” (1901-2) and the opera “Oedipe” (1936).

77. Sierra follower, in code TANGO
The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. It goes Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … Zulu.

81. Drama with masks NOH
Noh is a form of musical drama in Japan that has been around since the 14th century. Many of the Noh performers are masked, allowing all the roles to be played by men, both male and female parts.

82. Online investment option E*TRADE
E*Trade is mainly an online discount brokerage. It was founded in 1982 in Palo Alto, California, and I used to drive by its headquarters almost every day. The company is now run out of New York City. E*Trade produces those famous Super Bowl ads with the talking babies staring into a webcam.

84. Big name in house paint BEHR
The Behr brand of paint is pronounced “bear”, and the cans even have a bear logo. The company was founded in 1947 by Otho Behr Jr.

92. Frankie who starred on “Malcolm in the Middle” MUNIZ
I’ve never actually sat down and watched the TV comedy “Malcolm in the Middle”. It ran on Fox from 2000 to 2006. Malcolm was played by Frankie Muniz, who gave up acting to pursue a career in motor racing.

95. Home of some Bushmen NAMIBIA
The Republic of Namibia is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. The Namibian War of Independence fought from 1966 to 1988 eventually resulted in independence for Namibia from South Africa, and a transition from white minority apartheid rule.

104. Glam band with six #1 hits in Britain SLADE
Slade is a favorite band from my youth, a rock band from the north of England who made it big during the seventies. One of Slade’s hallmark marketing techniques was a deliberate misspelling of their song titles. Some of those titles are: “Merry Xmas Everybody”, “Gudbuy T’Jane” and my personal favorite “Cum On Feel the Noize”.

105. Brief name? HANES
The Hanes brand of apparel was founded in 1901. A related brand was introduced in 1986 called Hanes Her Way.

109. “Death in Venice” locale LIDO
The Lido di Venezia is a famous sandbar, about 11 km long, in Venice, Italy. It may be a sandbar, but it is home to about 20,000 residents, as well as the Venice Film Festival that takes place there every September. The Lido is also the setting for Thomas Mann’s famous novel “Death in Venice”. The name “lido” has become a term for any fashionable beach resort.

110. ___ libre (poetry style) VERS
Vers libre is poetry with an open form, a style that tends to follow the natural rhythm of speech. The style originated in 19th-century France, with “vers libre” translating as “free verse”.

111. Old Fords LTDS
There has been a lot of speculation about what the abbreviation LTD stands for in the car model known as “Ford LTD”. Many say it is an initialism standing for Luxury Trim Decor, and others say that it is short for “limited”. Although the car was produced in Australia with the initialism meaning Lincoln Type Design, it seems LTD was originally chosen as just three meaningless letters that sound well together.

112. Get old CLOY
“To cloy” is to cause distaste by oversupplying something that would otherwise be pleasant, especially something with a sweet taste.

113. Dog Chow alternative ALPO
Alpo is a brand of dog food first produced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

114. Crew member COX
The coxswain of a boat is one in charge, particularly of its steering and navigation. The name is shortened to “cox” particularly when used for the person steering and calling out the stroke in a competition rowing boat.

115. One means of corp. financing IPO
An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Coping mechanisms? SAWS
5. Dog for a “gentleman detective” ASTA
9. White, informally ANGLO
14. “Germinal” novelist ZOLA
18. Ton HEAP
19. Drama critic John of The New Yorker LAHR
20. Teeing off RILING
22. Popular children’s “find it” book series I SPY
23. Rescue film of 2012 ARGO
24. It’s normal for NASA ONE-G
25. Comedy classic of 1978 ANIMAL HOUSE
27. “Hey, what did you think when you missed that last pit stop?” [The Who, 1971] WON’T GET FUELED AGAIN (from “Won’t Get Fooled Again”)
30. ___ rating system (world chess standard) ELO
31. Ken of “thirtysomething” OLIN
32. Surgically remove RESECT
33. “Who, me?” MOI?
36. Bogs down MIRES
38. Hydroxyl compound ENOL
40. Fanny REAR END
42. “Did you do anything for luck before today’s race?” [Katy Perry, 2008] I KISSED A GRILLE (from “I Kissed a Girl”)
48. Scrumptious TASTY
49. “Like this” DO AS I DO
50. Seth of “Late Night” MEYERS
52. Rock’s Everly or Collins PHIL
53. Stopover spot INN
54. Summoned, in a way PAGED
57. Perform some magic CAST A SPELL
60. Okla. City-to-Dallas direction SSE
62. 4 letters GHI
63. Gen ___ XER
64. Exams for some coll. applicants AP TESTS
65. “How did that new car handle out there on the track?” [Maroon 5, 2011] MOVES LIKE JAGUAR (from “Moves Like Jagger”)
70. Soft-shell clam STEAMER
73. Steinful, maybe ALE
74. Article in Aachen EIN
75. Orly bird, once? SST
78. Tend MINISTER TO
80. Giant in heating and air-conditioning TRANE
83. Hack CAB
85. City SSW of Moscow OREL
86. Toy company on track to success? LIONEL
89. Unacceptable to polite society NOT DONE
91. Late disc jockey Casey KASEM
93. “What did you try to do after the caution flag came out?” [The Doors, 1967] BRAKE ON THROUGH (from “Break on Through”)
96. Cover with a hard outer surface ENCRUST
99. Dame ___ EDNA
100. Cast part ACTOR
101. Ming of the N.B.A. YAO
102. Relatively up-to-date NEWISH
106. Beauties GEMS
108. Slow-witted DIM
109. “Are you enjoying your time out on the Nascar circuit?” [Ricky Martin, 1999] LIVIN’ LA VEHICLE LOCA (from “Livin’ La Vida Loca”)
114. Movie with the line “Old age. It’s the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don’t look forward to being cured of” CITIZEN KANE
117. Lend a dirty hand to ABET
118. “___ do” IT’LL
119. George Will piece OP-ED
120. Someone a little short? NEEDER
121. The Swedish Nightingale LIND
122. Sporty option T-TOP
123. Love letter sign-off XOXO
124. Outfit DRESS
125. Antoine Domino Jr., familiarly FATS
126. Ditz YO-YO

Down
1. Only Literature Nobelist also to win an Oscar SHAW
2. Dynamic start? AERO-
3. “Ring” lovers WAGNERIANS
4. Impeccable SPOTLESS
5. Succulent plant ALOE
6. ___ Domingo SANTO
7. Posthumous John Donne poem that includes “It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee” THE FLEA
8. At it ARGUING
9. ___-Caspian Depression ARAL
10. Bay Area gridder NINER
11. Skate GLIDE
12. Green beans LIMAS
13. Asian wild ass ONAGER
14. Jerusalem ZION
15. Big Ten sch. OSU
16. Old track holders LPS
17. Reply to a captain AYE
21. Candied, as fruit GLACE
26. Assail HIT AT
28. Yenta GOSSIP
29. Huge, in poetry ENORM
33. Semitransparent fabrics MESHES
34. Suffering a losing streak, in poker ON TILT
35. Rustic poems IDYLLS
36. Noon, in Nantes MIDI
37. Sacred images: Var. IKONS
39. Not be straight LIE
41. “___ Delight,” pioneering song by the Sugarhill Gang RAPPER’S
43. Writer LeShan EDA
44. Almost any poem that starts “Roses are red …” DOGGEREL
45. Élève’s destination LYCEE
46. High-speed ride LEARJET
47. Sounds of equivocation ERS
51. Still STAGNANT
55. “So-so” responses EHS
56. Eye opener? DILATOR
58. Kwik-E-Mart guy APU
59. Stop: Abbr. STA
61. Spammer, e.g. EMAILER
63. Classic sports car XKE
66. Words of retreat? OMS
67. Nov. honoree VET
68. Actress Massey ILONA
69. Travel option AIR
70. Poster bear SMOKEY
71. European capital TIRANA
72. “Romanian Rhapsodies” composer ENESCO
76. “Be prepared” SCOUT MOTTO
77. Sierra follower, in code TANGO
79. Needle RIB
81. Drama with masks NOH
82. Online investment option E*TRADE
84. Big name in house paint BEHR
87. Squeeze (out) EKE
88. Place to dangle one’s legs LEDGE
90. Tameness DOCILITY
92. Frankie who starred on “Malcolm in the Middle” MUNIZ
94. See 97-Down ONE HALF
95. Home of some Bushmen NAMIBIA
97. 94-Down x 14 SEVEN
98. Coiled about TWINED
103. Tattoo artist INKER
104. Glam band with six #1 hits in Britain SLADE
105. Brief name? HANES
107. Trail SCENT
109. “Death in Venice” locale LIDO
110. ___ libre (poetry style) VERS
111. Old Fords LTDS
112. Get old CLOY
113. Dog Chow alternative ALPO
114. Crew member COX
115. One means of corp. financing IPO
116. Okla. neighbor TEX

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One thought on “0921-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 21 Sep 14, Sunday”

  1. I missed on 6D. I guess Domingo had me thinking of music so I tried "lento." And I even get the New Yorker every week, I should know Lahr's name by now.

    Decent theme, a bit easier than some other Sunday grids. I presumed you would need to know names and places in the "left-turn-only" sport to finish.

    And though I have heard the name Maroon5, I've never heard the song. After googling it, I feel like I near ear bleach, but that dreck cannot be unheard.

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